The new King and Queen of Rohan, part 1
During the last few days before Théodred and Elia would become the new royal couple of Rohan through the abdication of Théoden, a lot of things happened in Edoras. The whole Golden Hall was cleaned from roof to floor everywhere, most of the expanded Martell clan arrived sans for poor Manfrey who must stay behind as the castellan of Sunspear, though he had also one personal excuse in that his first grandchild had just been born a few days prior as well and he hesitated about leaving his son and daughter-in-law behind in case said daughter-in-law suddenly grew ill as a warning of that the birth had affected her body in a bad manner. She was deeply loved in the family thanks to her sweet nature and the possible loss of his daughter-in-law in childbirth would be a hard blow to Manfrey's branch of the Martells.
Even Lysa and her three children, who had now moved to Sunspear under the excuse of that the three Arryn heirs would be fostered by the Martells under their mother watchful eyes while she trusted Yohn Royce to be her voice and ears in the Vale during her absence, had arrived as important guests for the coronation and she would often be found beside Tirwald.
"I think it is good that you intends to marry once the mourning year is over, and show how Rohan do not take lightly on relationships that results in children," Queen Mother Morwen said when Lysa was presented for her by Elia and she got to see the baby boy that was the third known child with a parent from Westeros and the other from Rohan.
"Feder and Modur would never let me survive their shared disappointment if I did not give my own child a good future, my Lady," Tirwald muttered with a nervous side glare towards his father and stepmother in the other end of the Golden Hall, where they already seemed charmed by their future step-granddaughters despite the language barrier. That proved how Celia and Amanda could charm other people, if they were allowed to do it at their own pace without a lot of unspoken expectations of success.
"And it proves that you are a person who does not escape your responsibility as a parent, unlike what I have heard from my granddaughter-in-law about how young men of a certain status are allowed to behave because it is dismissed as just something that happens," Morwen remarked, her barely-hinted frown telling of what her personal thoughts about the Westerosi views on the origins of noble bastards were. In Rohan, every surviving child that lived to adulthood was important, and in serious times like war, it did not matter which side of the blankets you were born on. as long as you could help defending Rohan as a male warrior or having children as a fertile woman.
"The girls are valuable too, as future marriage partners and possible mothers. Bad eyesight and not having the sharpest of minds are not acceptable reasons to treat a child badly, not when they grow up and can hold a deep resentment against that person."
Laywyn herself may have remained unwed her whole life, but she had still witnessed how suitors could find themselves with a quickly-sinking numbers of women willing to accept a marriage offer if the suitor was seen as having too high standards of how a wife would be, or not behaving in appropriate manner towards a woman before they even was married. Demeaning her around others was often a sign of not showing respect for a future wife, and could become a perfectly legal weapon to call off a betrothal with. From what Lysa had managed to tell of young Harrold Hardyng, with Rhaenys acting as translator where the Arryn widow had difficulty with finding the right words, Laywyn noticed several different reasons for not letting Celia marry him if he continued with his current attitude towards her when they were old enough for marriage.
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The next day, some very important guests from Gondor also arrived.
"Boromir!"
The future Steward of Gondor was not alone this time, he had brought his brother and their four maternal cousins from Dol Amroth as well. The dark-haired lady beside Elphir had to be his betrothed, because her clothing seemed more of what Elia recalled of the city fashion among the noble ladies in Minas Tirith than of Dol Amroth.
"We thank you for inviting us for this event, Théoden King. The duties of our parents sadly prevented them from coming, so it ended up being us who got the luck to be the guests."
The King of Rohan welcomed his Gondorian guests warmly and once this formal welcoming was over, Rhaenys was showing great eagerness to present her 15-year-old penpal Lothíriel to her maternal cousin as she dragged her over to where the gathered children of Doran and Oberyn stood, yet Morwen proved herself still sharpeyed when she noticed her only granddaughter looked at the younger son of the current Steward and then hurried to look in a different direction with a faint blush on her cheeks.
"Oh? Perhaps I may rejoin Thengel and our three deceased daughters with the news that I had the pleasure of meeting more members of the next generation after my surviving grandchildren…"
Even if she may not live long enough to meet any new great-grandchildren from them, the thought of seeing the surviving son and daughter of her own youngest daughter married within a few years still warmed Morwen in both heart and body in a manner that she rarely felt now in her current age. After all, surviving descendants was the blessing of any family, royal or commoner.
Not long after, a group presenting the Wolf clan and some others of the more neutral tribes among the Dunlendings also arrived at Edoras, having gotten an invitation because they were trying to keep things somewhat less antagonistic with the Rohirrim for the sake of a more peaceful life and not starting a fight at an unexpected meeting. But something seemed to haunt those from the Wolf clan, for there was not the expected joy of being guests for such an important event among the men and women.
"Master Burne, what is the reason for your people looking so sullen?" Elia asked carefully to the warrior she had met a few times, praying for that it was not a new conflict that had happened again between the tribe and some arrogant Rohirrim youths who should know better. Besides, Burne was one of those who could speak Westron reasonably well, even if his grammar was not the best.
"Our son-less chieftain found his oldest daughter almost in the middle of being forcefully deflowered by someone who had been following her around despite her demands for him to stop. That bloody fool, shaming his Rohirric father Gálmód who had married a woman of the Wolf clan in the hope of creating peace, like that! That Gríma may have a way with his tongue, but using snake-like manners to make himself the husband of the girl and the next chieftain is not how one becomes the leader of our clan! No, he found himself without a head for this act."
Oh dear. Elia was not as familiar with the customs of the Dunlendings as the Rohirrim, but she could imagine that the rape of a daughter to the chieftain was a serious crime that would end with a heavy punishment.
"I hope that the young lady was not harmed further, and that she will not grow terrified of men after this horrible experience."
Burne muttered something in his own language that likely was a curse of some kind.
"Nay, but she will need a few more years in the house of her father before anyone else tries to offer marriage to her again. She is the oldest of three sisters, will be the one to marry first else people think that she can not get suitors for her hand."
Elia nodded, that was something most cultures would agree on. That if a family had many children, it was preferable to marry them off in the order of birth, else an older sibling may end up with reduced choices for a marriage. Marriage markets generally expected a certain group of ages for men and women when marrying, and those who were outside that age group could sometimes face a harder time to find a spouse, especially if they were still unwed and above the "typical" age for a first-time marriage. Widowers and widows had not the same problems, as they were allowed a little more freedom in their choices if they chose to remarry. Besides, an older sister would feel humiliated if a younger sister changed her social status to a wife before her and her own wedding may not be the same expansive affair as the one of said younger sister.
"If your chieftain allows it, then please tell him that I would welcome all three of his daughters as my ladies-in-waiting for a year or two. Sometimes being away from the place with bad memories are the best cure for such an experience as she almost went through by force. Besides, if such an act can help to keep peace between the Rohirrim and the Dunlending tribes that do not wish to fight, then I will gladly try my best to help."
One of her duties as a queen consort was the act of intercession. In some political situations, it was injudicious for the king to appear to yield or capitulate., but a queen had the ability to intervene and moderate the king's policies without him losing face. And Elia hoped to start a new era in the history of Rohan, to help unite the Free Peoples of Middle-earth here in those realms against Sauron when the war eventually came.
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Taking the chance for one final ride together before this major change in their lives that would happen the following day, Théodred and Elia did not ride too far from Edoras because the twins would want to see their parents before bedtime.
"It was kind of feder to have planned it to the end of August, so that Aégnor and Andréth could celebrate their fourth birthday without this overshadowing their special big day," he said as they dismounted and let their horses grazing the grass while the married couple sat down beside each other.
"Yes. The coronation of a new King is important for all of Rohan, so it was good to ensure that all the nobles could arrive at Edoras in good time. Since many of them will bring their wives and children as well to witness this historical event, they will not have the usual time to travel either."
She and Théodred had planned the coronation ceremony together as soon as they learned what his father intended to do, to hand over the royal power and title in Rohan to his only child. Elia knew that from tomorrow on, her life would be that as a queen consort of Rohan beside his side. Apart from a few minor details such as that Théodred would be crowned with a They would follow the coronation ceremony as had been done by the Kings of Rohan since the 75-years-long reign of King Aldor the Old, because his grandfather Eorl and father Brego had spent much of their own reigns to overlook the migration of the Éothéod to Calenardhon as Rohan had been called back then.
"Are you nervous for tomorrow?"
Well, it would be strange if both of them were perfectly calm. Even with Théodred growing up knowing that he would take over the crown one day, the actual coronation would make it a reality.
"I feel more comfortable that I will be a queen consort to a man that I love and trusts, rather than having to worry about whatever crazy ideas that could be crafted in his mind."
The very thought of remaining the wife of Rhaegar, after all he had caused thanks that damn idea of that he wanted to recreate the original Targaryen trio though his children made her disgusted those days, when she had been married to Théodred for five years, and known him for four years before they became man and wife in an official ceremony. The next summer, it would be ten years since their first meeting.
"As regrettable that the Stark girl was made to end up sacrifice her life in the birthing bed, because of that stupid idea that you were barren after having Aegon, she did cause some of the trouble herself by running away from her intended marriage."
Eddard Stark had not managed to silence Wylla, the midwife who had overseen the fatal childbirth, and she in turn had told Lord Vorian Dayne of the events inside the Tower of Joy. Therefore, the Martells knew that Lyanna Stark had died from a post-term delivery and horrible blood loss caused by the dragon defects on the stillborn baby girl that Rhegar had planted in her womb. It was a horrible death, one which Elia would never wish on her worst female enemies, and a sad learning of that real life was not a song. Whatever the willful Lyanna Stark had hoped to do with her life by running away from her duties as a daughter of a Lord Paramount, born in a social status where arranged marriages was the norm and not being unhappy with your spouse was a goal since divorce was almost unheard off unless the man and wife chose to live separately, Elia did not know.
"I did pity the stillborn baby girl, though, for what sort of life she could have had if she was alive and healthy. A royal bastard born from a mistress, and with Rhaegar as a father? No, it would be kinder for her to never have drawn the breath of life, or if she had been sent to the Faith as a silent sister to atone for the sins of her parents."
It was one thing to hate Lyanna Stark as the younger, more healthy-looking woman who Rhaegar had humiliated her twice with for everyone to witness, but Elia was not cruel enough to think that a child should bear the burden of the parents. Besides, she did not doubt that if Lyanna had birthed a son, everyone would think immediately of Daemon Blackfyre and what sort of legacy his bloodline had ended up causing for the following generations.
"I am glad that I was able to offer you a much more happier life as my wife and the mother of our beloved children, than what you would have had otherwise."
Gently pushing away her hair from the face, Théodred kissed his wife on the mouth. And Elia returned the kiss to him with equivalent, if not actually more, passion. The thought of some tender lovemaking out here was not so horrible because they were sheltered from view by a nice little hill, and there was no one to disturb them for a few hours yet.
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Author note; As Lysa is using Eorl's young age as a legal reason to stay with all three children in Sunspear, she would likely choose a important and powerful noble in the Vale that is undoubtedly royal to House Arryn to rule in her stead until that she officially returns to be the regent for her son herself
I imagine that Rohan and Gondor would contrast a lot towards Westeros in how bastards sired by nobles would be treated; If the parents are of the same social status and neither one is married to someone else, then the child will become legitimate if they marry. If the father is of higher social status than the mother and old enough to count as a legal adult, then he is by law expected to arrange some form of support for the child even if he and the mother may not have a lasting relationship.
Well, since I am planning to have Éomer and Lothíriel hit off with each other during the coronation celebration, I thought that I might as well do the same with Faramir and Éowyn because of all the changes I already have done from canon!
Burne is a Old English name meaning Stream and I tried to find one that could match the Dunlendings.
